


Lies

by Avasti



Series: Music Prompts: Persona 5 [5]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Manipulation, mild manipulation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:55:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24276976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avasti/pseuds/Avasti
Summary: Lies by Will JayTakamaki Ann/Kurusu AkiraShout out to CorruptedCaramelAkira doesn't make friends the normal way, then really thinks about himself. Ann breaks through his shell and gets him to open up.This one actually gave me some trouble. Thus why it's out so much later than I wanted it to. Initially I wrote Ann and Akira's heart to heart, but it was only at 2-3 pages (Google Docs) and that felt... lazy? idk. I listened to the song again and wrote what is now the first part of the fic. Then, upon struggling again, I thought. Hey, why not combine them? And here it is.I hope you enjoy?
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Takamaki Ann
Series: Music Prompts: Persona 5 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707226
Comments: 5
Kudos: 18





	Lies

Akira leaned back from his chair, frowning at the list before him. He had them all. Knew the names tied to the titles, knew what they liked hearing. His team was listed in a different category. They knew more about him, so he could be _mostly_ truthful with them. It was Justice he struggled over. Akechi hadn’t been part of his team, but eventually manipulated his way in. The detective, however, always saw through Akira’s lies. Not because Akira couldn’t lie, no, but because the two of them were far more alike than he’d originally thought.

Morgana stirred from his slumber on Akira’s bed and he quickly shut the book. A little black journal he got from the stationary store. Different enough from his daily journal that he wouldn’t mistakenly give Sojiro the wrong one, but similar enough that people didn’t think twice when they saw him working in it.

He watched Mona stretch and lick his chops, tiredly blinking at him, “We should do something fun today.”

He looked outside, rain beating hard against his windows, rattling the panes and forcing little trickles of water inside. Morgana followed his gaze and huffed, 

“Something fun _inside.”_

“We could go play pool?”

With that the two left for Penguin Sniper. He texted the group chat on the way and paid for their admission. Akira stood by the table he reserved, practicing trick shots until his team showed. Akechi came first. He didn’t say hi, or make small talk, he simply grabbed a pool cue and watched Akira move about the table. 

The rest showed up gradually, getting drinks and cues and loitering until they were all gathered. Ann slipped an arm around Akira’s waist in a half hug and smiled up at him,

“You’re on my team, Leader.”

Akira grinned and winked, “Always will be.”

The group of teens played until the last train, then went their seperate ways. Rain was still nearly torrential, so Akira went straight home.

As he stripped out of his soaked clothing, Morgana jumped onto his bookshelf, at eye level.

“Hey, hey! You and Lady Ann seemed real close today.”

Despite wording it as a statement, Akira could feel his question, _what are you to her?_ He sighed mid-way through putting his shirt on,

“Mona. You’re a cat.”

“I am-”

“Not a cat, sure sure, but right now you are. There’s no way you and Ann could be together. I’m sorry, it wasn’t my plan to start dating her, truly, but it just kinda… happened.” 

The cat’s expression was unreadable as Akira sunk onto his bed. 

“Morgana, if there was a way-”

“No, you’re right. I don’t think I’ll ever be human… Lady Ann deserves happiness.”

Akira watched him as he trotted over to the couch, plopping down. He seemed okay. Wasn’t facing away like he did when he was upset.

“I don’t have school tomorrow, maybe we could get sushi?”

That perked Morgana right up, “Yeah! I want fatty tuna!”

After their little sushi run, the Phantom Thieves were busier than ever. The excruciating wait for the right time to send Sae Niijima’s calling card was finally over and they were all thrown into action.

After a very busy few days, Akira was left with nothing to do. He hated it.

They wanted to employ the same tactic with Shido as they had with Sae. Give them as little time as possible to react to the change of heart, but that meant _waiting._

Akira worked on the only thing he could; his confidants. He knew when their support was maxed and from there, moved on to the next. Only issue was that he maxed them all. He was back to being bored, writing in his personal journal again. 

As he pondered his confidants, he took the time to really examine himself. He knew his treatment of the people who supported him wasn’t normal. It was unfair of him to treat them this way. Especially his friends. His tactics were odd, using the Velvet room to measure the support for people around him, always walking on glass when talking to them, being purposefully vague if they asked, so his story would remain the same no matter who they talked to.

All but his team, naturally. They knew more about him than he was typically comfortable with. They didn’t know his past, nor his intentions for the future, but they knew how he operated. How he fought and solved problems. He wasn’t sure if they would stay his friends after he moved away, but he had to be careful to avoid his two lives intersecting. 

He groaned and tossed his pen onto the desk. Mona was with Haru, thankfully, so he didn’t have to hide his frustration. His annoyance. If there was just one person he could confide in. To just release and let everything out, maybe he wouldn’t feel like a pressurized can, ready to blow up at the first sign of impact.

In his pocket, his phone rang, startling him nearly out of his seat. He checked the ID, then answered,

“Hey, Ann.”

_”Hi! Can I come over? I have notes from Kawakami that you should have.”_

“Yeah, that would be great. I’ll make some coffee.”

_”Great! I’m downstairs already.”_ There was a laugh in her voice, and the barest hint of guilt as they hung up.

He grabbed his school bag and went downstairs, just as the front door closed from Sojiro leaving for the night.

...

It was the first thing she had said to him. Akira had stood in front of the class and lied. She called him out on it. She had suspected, even then, that there was more to this troubled transfer student. Found herself judging him.

If only she’d known that in a few months, she would be in love with him. Heart melting at the sight of his smile. Icy dread numbing her veins when he was knocked down by a shadow. 

Now they sat, side by side in a booth in Leblanc, steaming cups of coffee sitting within reach. It wasn’t romanctic, by any stretch of the imagination, they were just working on homework. She rarely left his side anymore. His death was reported on live tv and even knowing that, she was terrified for him. It reminded her that what they did wasn’t safe. Life wasn’t forever.

At first she used the excuse that she needed to help him study. That he would fall behind, but he had been top of their class since he transferred, so they both knew that was a stretch. Even knowing this, he would just smile and thank her, brewing two cups of coffee and pull out his school bag.

Now they sat, actually studying, arms and thighs touching. Ann could hardly focus. Akira was absently spinning his pencil, a small frown pulled his eyebrows together, forming a little crease that she desperately wanted to ease.

He had a mountain of secrets. She knew just by looking at him. She knew little bits of his life, but mostly only from the arrest and on. Just as he knew next to nothing about her. Strange how she knew him so well, and yet not at all. She had never told him how long she’d been alone. How big her house felt when it was just her and the maid her parents hired. How many times she cried herself to sleep because she just wanted a hug from her dad.

After some thought, Ann shut her book. “Akira?”

He immediately responded, lifting his head to look at her curiously, setting the pencil down and giving her his full attention.

Maybe it was bound to happen, that she’d been holding back all this time, eventually her emotional dam would break. It still surprised her that something as simple as Akira giving her his full attention would bring her to tears.

Fat salty tears rolled down her cheeks and she made a noise of distress, immediately trying to banish them. Akira’s eyes had grown wide, he bodily turned in the booth and gently touched her cheek,

“Ann?”

“Nnn- I’m sorry. I don’t know why… n-no… I do… Akira, I need to tell you something.”

She heard Carmen coo in her mind, _”Yes, dear. Seek help. You are stronger for it.”_

Akira was worried, the crease between his brow even deeper as he waited for her to speak.

Through sniffles and the occasional hiccup, she spoke, “So, you know how I told you my parents are overseas a lot? And that I’m fine alone?” he nodded and she wiped at her eyes, “Yeah, I’m not fine. I’m so lonely, and I thought I was being dumb. That so many people have it so much worse and why couldn’t I just suck it up, you know? B-but I miss them. I miss having someone to confide in and tell everything. I miss being able to hug them and just be a kid…”

He rested a hand on her back, and she leaned against him, pressing her face into the soft fabric of his hoodie. He held her, gently rubbing her back as she continued speaking, “I couldn’t tell them about Kamoshida though, because they would never leave again. Never chase their dreams. I just… I need to tell someone, so I can finally let go.” She stayed pressed against him, but moved her face so her voice wasn’t muffled, “Kamoshida tried to rape me. Since he started working at the school, he’d had his eye on me and Shiho. He watched us every day. At first I didn’t notice it, but… he started getting bolder. Probably because he had his own little fan-club. Shiho was the only person I could confide in, but since she joined Volleyball, it felt like... “ she shook her head, “Felt like we didn’t know each other anymore. I stopped confiding in her and she stopped confiding in me. Like we were trying to protect each other from the same enemy, when if we’d just teamed up, we probably could have won.”

She fell silent, closing her eyes and listening to the steady beat of Akira’s heart. She timed her breathing with it, four beats in, four beats out. After her heart rate was nearly matched with his, she sat up straight and let out a small, self-depracating laugh. “Stupid, I know. How is that supposed to help…”

“Thank you for telling me. I can’t offer much comfort, but I’m always here for you, Ann. No matter what.”

She smiled at him, “I know. Thank you, Akira. I think just saying that stuff…” She nodded, “Yeah, I think I’m feeling better. Now, it’s your turn.”

His eyes widened, “My turn?”

“Yeah, to let go of your lie. I let go of mine just now, by admitting I was lonely without my parents and that what Kamoshida did really really hurt me.”

He hesitated, worrying his lip between his teeth.

She nudged him, “It’s scary. But please know you can trust me.”

He slowly nodded, “I do, Ann... “ he let out a short breath and seemed to steel himself, “Alright. The grit huh?” she moved on the seat, fully facing him, and gently grabbed his hand. He smiled, “Okay… I grew up in a small town, so everyone knew everyone. I had a few friends, but we were… we were really only friends, because there weren’t any other kids around. Still I was always surrounded by people. Had a roof over my head, warm food, friendly faces. Then shit hit the fan and I really found out how much I was loved. That is to say, not at all. Mom and dad immediately sent me here and the people I called friends wouldn’t even look at me. I was surrounded by faces, yet completely alone.”

She hugged him. Despite his matter-of-fact tone, she could feel his hurt. His family, his community. They shunned him when he needed it most. She felt him hug her in return, his face against her hair. 

She shivered when he huffed out a small laugh, disturbing the baby hairs by her neck. Ann pulled away, rubbing the tingling sensation away, “Why are you laughing?”

“I’ve always measured my worth by the support I recieve. I’ve been… manpulating the people around me. Not so much our team, but everyone else.” he looked at his lap, hair obscuring his eyes from her gaze, “Just before you got here I got to thinking. I wanted to stop lying. I just want to be me. Without the veil I force people to see through, but... “ He looked at her, “I didn’t think anyone could forgive me.”

She quiet as she took everything he’d said into consideration, then she smiled, “Akira, we all have secrets. As long as you’re not hiding big stuff, I think having your secrets is okay. We all have ways of making friends… so what if yours isn’t normal. You aren’t normal.”

He stared at her, expression so raw and open, “You aren’t mad?”

“No, silly.”

“You’re not breaking up with me?”

“No!” 

“How did I get so lucky?”

“Lucky how?”

“Friends who don’t care about my methods of making friends? Friends who don’t care about my tragic backstory? This is the life I tried to make back home…” He flashed her a Joker grin, “Plus I’m dating a model, and she is _totally_ into me.”

She smacked his chest, laughing despite her blush, “Shut up!”

He caught her wrist and held her hand to his chest, locking eyes with her, “Seriously, though. Thank you for this.”

It was hard being honest, but he could try for her.


End file.
